Trumbull Defeats Fairfield 19U, Wins FCBL Championship

Trumbull won the 2020 Fairfield County Baseball League (FCBL) Championship on Wednesday night as they defeated Fairfield 8-0 at Trumbull High School. 

The start of the game was a pitcher's duel as Trumbull's Ryan Caroll and Fairfield's Phil Hogan traded zero's through the first three innings, with an infield single for Trumbull the only hit to that point. 

Trumbull would break through in the fourth. Brandon Csizmadia led off with a walk and stole second. The next batter, Chris Briganti drove in Csizmadia with a single to left field. Two batters later, after Briganti moved to second base on a wild pitch, he came in to score on a double to right by Ryan Gomes.

Caroll, who would be named championship game MVP, held Fairfield without a hit through the first four innings. Fairfield's first, and only hit of the game, was a fifth inning two-out single to center field by Charlie Mount. 

Trumbull broke the game open in the fifth. Despite getting only one hit in the inning, they capitalized on three Fairfield errors, two walks and a hit batter to score six runs against three Fairfield pitchers. 

After a lead off walk, Hogan came out in favor of Alex Wiggetman. Justin Delaney hit a ground ball to shortstop but the thrown was dropped at second and runners were at first and second with nobody out. Matt Massaro then came up and laid down a sacrifice bunt but the throw was thrown down the first field line, allowing both runners to score and Massaro to end up all the way at third. That gave Trumbull a 4-0 lead. 

Massaro would come in to score during the next at bat on a balk by Wiggetman. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, a wild pitch bounced to the right of Fairfield catcher Jack Hernandez allowing one run to score. Hernandez's throw to pitcher Anthony Espinoza covering home plate was high and got away, allowing the second runner to score. 

The scoring would be capped later in the inning as Dan Massaro, who had walked earlier in the inning, came in to score on a wild pitch. 

Trumbull got strong pitching from Caroll (5IP, 1 hit, 1 walk), Bryan Kraus (1IP, no hits, only runner reached on error) and Dan Massaro (one perfect inning). 

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It was a pleasure to follow and informally cover Fairfield Legion this summer. I look forward to more in the future! Thank you to coaches Sars Ford (also the GM of Fairfield Legion), Lance Kreizer, Chris Bugyi, Will Mitola and Connor Bennett for your help in allowing me to cover your teams. To the families and players, it was enjoyable to chat with you, and I hope you enjoyed the coverage. You athletes and families deserve it.